单细胞测序技术在干细胞领域的研究进展

The Role of Single-Cell Sequencing in Stem Cell

细胞异质性是生物体内普遍存在的一种特性,这种特性容易受外界因素的影响,甚至是单一类型的细胞在生长环境发生改变时,其基因表达也可能出现变化并产生差异。干细胞是一类具有无限自我更新和分化潜能的特殊类型的细胞,在胚胎组织发育和成体组织的动态平衡中发挥了重要作用。单细胞测序为分析包括干细胞在内的细胞异质性提供了强有力的工具,这种技术可通过更加准确的方式剖析细胞异质性。该文综述了近年来发展起来的单细胞测序技术,包括单细胞分离、基因组扩增和测序分析,并讨论了它们在干细胞(包括多能干细胞、肿瘤干细胞和组织特异性干细胞)研究中的应用。

Cellular heterogeneity is a fundamental characteristic in biological tissues and easily influenced by external stimulus.Even homologous cells could vary and express different genes when growing environment changes.Stem cell is a class of special cells with unlimited potential of self-renew and differentiation,acting as an essential role in the development of embryonic tissues and the dynamic balance in biological tissues.Single-cell sequencing technology provides a powerful tool for analyzing cellular heterogeneity in a more accurate way.In this review,we will describe the development of single-cell sequencing technology in recent years,including singlecell separation,genome amplification and sequencing analysis,and discuss the applications in multi-potential stem cells,tumor stem cells and tissue-specific stem cells.